My First De-orbit and landing on Orbiter

[Lydia]

Well 'Proper' De-orbit anyway, i was on OMP and started to deorbit my XR2, now when i usually deorbit the XR2 and DGIV i either make the DGIV go into Debris or the XR2 have a hull breach xD, but this time i got past the flaming area of the atmosphere without a scratch, now the flaming area is where i smash the DGIV or Make the XR2 have a breach, after this i faced off again my worst fear, landing the XR2 without a gear failure, so i fired retro's and pointed the nose up, after about 5 minutes of this i approached ground, well sea to be exact but orbiter doesn't simulate splashdown i was dreading the touchdown for fear of breaking my gear like i normally do, but this time i touched down and didn't break my gear, i was so happy when i did this. my next goal is to be able to touchdown on the runway of the base i want to land at but i need to find a way to do this, but for the meantime my first landing is a thing to remember. i do need to work on docking though as i cant do that, i can do most things except docking xD

 

[IronRain]

ah first re-entry and landing.. great feeling huh Congrats!

 

[XeroZohar]

Congrats, Lydia! :thumbup:

The moment I remember most was my first unpowered landing (that actually hit the runway). I got up and did a little dance. Luckily I remembered to put on the brakes.

 

[Hurricane]

Wait, there are brakes on the DGIV? :shifty:
Anyway, congrats Lydia!
I remember my first reentry that actually hit a runway. It's some sort of a confirmation:
'Yep, I did it!' (;

Happy [de-]orbiting!

 

[Lydia]

I've never actually hit the runway, nor done a unpowered landing lol

 

[Cras]

Congrats.

Unpowered landings are the best. Try one out. The DGIV is a bit more challenging than the XR-2. That XR2 seemingly can float for ever, makes it really easy to get aligned with the runway and bring her in for a nice soft landing.

De-orbit and unpowered glide to landing is one of my favorite things to do in Orbiter.

 

[Lydia]

just De-orbited and did a unpowered landing ON THE RUNWAY in a XR5 and landed perfectly

 

[Scav]

:thumbup:

 

[Lydia]

unfortunately it was not the runway i wanted to land at LOL i landed at KSC but i was planning to land at Wideawake, any tips or ideas on de-orbiting at the right time in a XR5 to land at Wideawake Intl?

 

[Aeadar]

Congratulations!
I'm a fan of Aerobrake MFD myself. And the XR5 is a great vessel for unpowered landings. Also, the DGEX.

 

[Lydia]

Maybe IMFD base approach system might help me

---------- Post added at 10:35 ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 ----------

just did a unpowered night landing and a proper re-entry using the skipping method by going in and out of the atmosphere to slow me down and slow my decent and i touched down softly but i still need to learn how to land at a base XD

 

[Grover]

i did a tutorial somewhere: Re-entry for dummies which you may find helpful. i now its written for the DGIV, but the XR2's aerodynamics allow you to fly it in a similar fashion.

you should have no problems by using this method, so long as you do it properly

hope it helps!

 

[Lydia]

its good for small craft like DGIV and XR2 but im using the XR5 now on my main install to build stations so i need to learn how to deorbit correctly

 

[ADSWNJ]

its good for small craft like DGIV and XR2 but im using the XR5 now on my main install to build stations so i need to learn how to deorbit correctly

BaseSync and AeroBrake are your friends here Lydia. Use BaseSync to see which orbit to deorbit on, and you can trim your inclination a bit to align yourself dead onto your target (e.g. Wideawake). (E.g. in prograde autopilot, use a bit of hover thrust to give you Normal+ thrust equivalent, until the BaseSync closest approach is close to 0). Use BaseSync also to do the deorbit burn (eg. Interface Alt 80km .. enter 80, deorbit angle ... enter 0.5 or what you prefer here, and anticipation ... enter around 40 degrees), let the XR5 track round to the deorbit point, burn off the required dV and you are on your way to landing.

Set up Surface MFD, roll wings level. Then use the XR5's attitude hold to hold wings level and at AoA to 40 degrees (for when we hit the atmosphere). We'll ride the attitude hold all the way down to visual range. At this point, you can also set up an airspeed hold at say 250. Because we are way faster than this, you can engage without any issue. It's useful if you are focused on alignment at the end of the descent, as it spools up the engines to maintain a good landing speed until you are on final.

Use Aerobrake now to show you the descent trajectory, heating, G-forces, and the track over the base. It' an awesome tool. You'll be tweaking the XR5 attitude control from say 32-40 degrees in half-degrees to maintain your energy, but also keep the ride smooth. (Early in the descent, you can play with the AoA and see the wild effect it had on the descent path - from completely smooth to a series of crazy big moguls!).

Hope that's enough for now to get you down the hill. Happy flying!

 

[Hurricane]

BaseSync and AeroBrake are your friends here Lydia.

But not mine (;
I can nail a reentry without them, and actually I plan on making a tutorial on how to accomplish this impossible feat once the pressure from school settles. :tiphat:

I also have some odd mental ways of thinking that help me accomplish that...
I'll try to elaborate on my tutorial.

~Till then, take care everyone!

Oz.​

 

[Lydia]

I AM PISSED NOW i do what base sync MFD tells me but when i do the Orbit NORMAL + and - the distance rises on both im really really annoyed GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

---------- Post added at 19:23 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

i just cant take it any more I'ive tried everything i know I've looked at tut's and it NEVER FLIPPING WORKKKSSSSS

 

[Cras]

Once you are on your final orbit, switch the number of Orbits Basesync displays down to 1. That will force those alignment displays to correspond to your current situation. And I recommend you do the de-orbit burn first, then switch over to Basesync's direct mode, and then align with the base that way. Or you can just use the cross-range with S-turns to get the azimuth to the base to zero, or close to it.

I like a step re-entry in the XR2 myself. It allows less required fuel in the APU, and more re-entry effects, but this takes away a lot of the cross range capability of the vehicle. I use the direct mode in Basesync to compensate and it works well everytime.

 

[Lydia]

im doing this in an XR5 and it causes Base Sync to up

 

[Grover]

in some baseSync versions, the thrust direction is given opposite to what you need to do, just turn round and burn till your Rinc is 0

in fact, you can always just bank a little during re-entry to change course, like the shuttle does, you can do this rather easily in fact with an attitude AP

 

[ADSWNJ]

im doing this in an XR5 and it causes Base Sync to up

Orbiter can be unforgiving some times! I bet we have all had that exact feeling as we get to grips with a new ship, MFD or technique! The good news is that there should be no reason why BaseSync and XR5 should not play nice together (e.g. I do it all the time now).

Can you take a quick-save of your scenario and insert it here as a reply, so the people here can take a look for you? Let me know if you need help how to do this.